The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Osteospermum plant, botanically known as Osteospermum ecklonis (DC) T. Norl., commonly known as Cape Daisy, and hereinafter referred to by the variety denomination ‘Sunny Marina’.
The new Osteospermum is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the inventor, Bjarne Larsen, in Stige, Odense, Denmark. The objective of the breeding program was to develop a new Osteospermum variety with upright plant habit, compact growth habit, interesting inflorescence color, and good keeping quality.
The new Osteospermum originated from a planned crossing of two Osteospermum selected parent plants made by the inventor in 2002 in Stige, Odense, Denmark. The female or seed parent is an Osteospermum ecklonis (DC) T. Norl. cultivar designated ‘90.024.00’ (unpatented). The male or pollen parent is an Osteospermum ecklonis (DC) T. Norl. cultivar designated ‘999’ (unpatented). The new Osteospermum cultivar ‘Sunny Marina’ was selected by the inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the above crossing in 2003 in a controlled environment in Stige, Odense, Denmark.
Asexual reproduction of the new Osteospermum cultivar by apical stem cuttings was first performed in February of 2003 in Stige, Odense, Denmark, and has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for the new cultivar are firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction. The new cultivar reproduces true-to-type.